


Assorted Astra x Alex ficlets

by fictorium



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Ficlet Collection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-22
Updated: 2016-03-22
Packaged: 2018-05-28 10:10:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 5,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6324934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fictorium/pseuds/fictorium
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Originally posted on <a href="http://fictorium.tumblr.com/tagged/l'extra">Tumblr</a>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“I’m sorry,” Alex tells her as she turns the shower on. “I mean, I know that had to hurt.”

“A knife would have been sufficient,” Astra grouses. “But that’s not what wounds me most, Agent.”

“I had to let Kara think you died,” Alex reminds her. “Not to mention your husband. Are you sure no one will come looking for your body?”

“They performed the funeral rites, there’s no need.”

“You might want to, uh… strip?” 

“I can wash myself,” Astra snaps. “I’ve been quite capable since I was a girl.”

“You can’t lift your arms,” Alex points out. “And there’s blood in your hair. I’m just trying to help, General.”

“If you’re seeing me like this, I think we can defer to first names, don’t you?” Astra sits on the shower bench heavily, letting the flowing blue material of her dress fall to the ground. It soaks quickly, and Alex wonders for a moment why Astra can’t look at it. 

“I don’t want it back,” Astra nods towards the sodden fabric. “The dress was my sister’s, all I have left of her besides Kara.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Alex assures her. “Let’s get this over with, hmm? We’ll get you some fatigues, the doctors will check you’re healing right.”

“And the plan moves on,” Astra sighs. “An inch to the left and you would have killed me, you know.”

“But I didn’t.” Alex lets Astra step beneath the spray, before releasing one side Kryptonite cuffs, letting her move a little more freely. She averts her eyes as Astra reaches for the soap. Only when Astra says “okay” does Alex step close once again, shampoo bottle in her hand.

“You don’t have to be gentle,” Astra says as Alex works up a lather in the long, wet curls. “I’m not so weakened.”

“Gentle seems like the least I can do,” Alex admits. “I’ve killed people before, but…”

“How long before we can tell my niece the truth?” Astra interrupts the awkward silence. “If I’m to betray my own forces, I want a relationship with her. That was my price.”

“I’m working on it.” Alex guides Astra back beneath the spray with a soft grip on her shoulder. Her own clothes are soaked, and she’s not looking forward to explaining this additional prisoner attention to Hank, who’s brooding upstairs and waiting for explanations about plans hatched behind his back. “Thank you,” she adds, a moment later.

“I’ve earned your thanks?”

“For trusting me,” Alex explains. “For taking this chance, even if it is just for Kara.”

“It’s not just for Kara,” Astra admits. “I’d say I’m clean now, Alex. Or do you mean to keep me naked all night?”

“Don’t start,” Alex warns, all too aware of when she’s being fucked with. She shuts off the shower and hands over a towel. “Don’t get used to this level of attention. This is a military facility.”

“Of course.” Astra acknowledges Alex with a knowing smile. It’s going to be a very long few weeks.


	2. Chapter 2

“This is what passes for meek in your world?” Astra demands, surveying the new clothes on her body and smoothing out the blouse with the palms of her hands. 

“Well, it passes for preppy,” Alex admits. “I kind of just raided the side of Kara’s closet that Cat said she’s not allowed to wear to the office anymore.”

“She allows that woman to dictate her dress?” Astra pounces on these throwaway comments faster than anyone Alex has ever known. It’s a shot of adrenaline every time. It’s what her dad might have called ‘matching wits’, and Alex doesn’t want to be as thrilled by it as she is.

“It’s more complicated than that,” Alex diverts as best she can. “Okay, so white blouse, black skirt, simple shoes. Your hair pinned up like that takes the edge of crazy off a little… sorry,” she corrects, off Astra’s glare in the mirror. “I’m trying to see you the way they’ll see you.”

“But how do you see me?” Astra turns then, challenge in every muscle on her taut body. “Why can’t I face this tribunal as what I am? I’m a General, you called me a warrior. Shouldn’t I face them dressed for battle?”

“Not if you want to come home,” Alex informs her. “Home to me, Astra. I’m doing all of this to give us a chance. After these stuffed shirts have their say, you’ll be the DEO’s problem again. And you already know you’re my favorite problem.”

“I bet you say that to all the aliens,” Astra huffs, but a smile is playing at the corners of her mouth. On someone so serious it’s such a rare treat, and Alex finds herself itching to cause that smile again the minute Astra’s features relax back into her habitual frown. 

“Only you,” Alex promises, stepping in close and clasping the simple gold necklace she holds around Astra’s neck. “I thought about a crucifix, but I didn’t want to overdo it.”

“People place that much faith in symbols?”

“They like to think they do,” Alex answers, her fingers grasping at the collar of the blouse, thumbs skimming beneath the fabric to get just a little fix of real contact with Astra. They have to be professional for one more day, get through this hearing and back to the safe confines of the DEO and then Alex’s apartment. It’s just a few more hours, and Alex can allow herself that.

“Thank you,” Astra mutters, taking Alex’s wrists to guide her hands away. At the last moment, Astra dips her head and kisses the inside of Alex’s wrist. “Just in case,” she adds, as the guard’s knock on the door echoes through the room. Alex turns away, opening the door and nodding at the guard with professional courtesy. Just a few more hours.


	3. Chapter 3

“Why do you torture me like this?” Astra groans, turning her head away from Alex. 

“It’s not torture,” Alex reminds her. “It’s jello. And one of the very few things you’re allowed to eat, post-surgery.”

“It tastes like the liquid you clean your dishes with.”

“You did a lot of housework in your years hiding out on Earth, huh?” Alex teases. “I’ll get you the red kind next time. This green isn’t great.”

“I have to eat it?” Astra asks, sullen but at least looking at Alex again. 

“It would keep the other doctors out of our business,” Alex admits. “Another day or two and we can get you out of this regular hospital, safely back to the DEO.”

“How can I be safe in a place where your generals would kill me without a second’s hesitation?” Astra has a point, Alex has to concede.

“Let’s deal with the jello first, hmm?” Astra takes the spoonful Alex is offering, her actions slow and deliberate as her lips pass over the plastic spoon. 

“Disgusting,” Astra pronounces, frowning even harder than before. “I demand a more pleasant sensation for my mouth.”

“Fine,” Alex huffs, leaning in to kiss her sweetly on the lips. It’s not their first kiss, but it’s the first not exchanged in the heat of an argument. It has the frankly amazing side effect of shutting Astra the hell up. “Better?”

Astra nods, before jerking her head towards the little pot of wobbling green stuff. “I can suffer the rest now.”

Alex offers up the next spoonful, wondering exactly when she became the go-to confidant for intergalactic drama queens.


	4. Chapter 4

Alex wakes up in a panic, knowing she’s pinned to the mattress by someone strong. Her arms are clamped at her sides, and a leg is pushing hers against the mattress. She bucks once, twice, but can’t seem to gain an inch of traction.

“I will kill you,” Astra grumbles, snorting a little half-snore before her eyes open. “Did anyone ever tell you you’re a restless sleeper, Danvers?”

“What are you doing to me?” Alex demands. “Astra, I can’t move!”

“You have kicked me no fewer than thirteen times,” Astra points out, but she slides her leg back to her side of the bed. “Your uncontrollable flailing has left me smacked in the mouth at least four times. And your last unexpected turn resulted in a headbutt to the chin.”

“You can barely feel it!” Alex protests. “I’m… not used to sleeping with other people.”

“You usually send them home before morning?”

“I usually sneak out before morning,” Alex confesses. “I didn’t know you would stay.”

“Would you rather I left?” Astra asks, letting the sheet slip a little further down her naked body. “Is that what you’re trying to tell me through sleep violence?”

Alex shakes her head, hair falling in her eyes. 

“Maybe if you do the holding a little less tight?” She ventures. “And if you ever tell anyone I asked for that, I’ll have you court-martialled.”

“I don’t answer to your military,” Astra reminds her, but she extends her arm to pull Alex close. “Try to rest. All that thrashing can’t be good for you.”

“Whatever,” Alex sighs, sleep already pulling her back down. She can’t remember the last time she enjoyed being in her own bed this much. “Night,” she mumbles, and the only response she catches is the press of a kiss to the top of her head.


	5. THINGS YOU SAID WHEN WE WERE ON TOP OF THE WORLD

“It would be so easy to drop you.”

“Astra…”

“I didn’t say I intended to drop you. Simply that the act of dropping right now would be easy.” Astra pulls Alex a little closer, this position of flying together new to both of them. She never got to practice before coming to Earth, and a power like this required drills and training more intensive than anything she ones subjected her troops to. 

“Kara never brought me this high,” Alex confesses, her breath still warm against Astra’s neck, despite the chill in the air around them.

“We do a lot of things you couldn’t with her,” Astra points out. 

Alex is confusing to her still, a puzzle with no hope of solution. The fact that Astra doesn’t want to stop trying is new, and no less frustrating when Alex mocks her for being too rigid, too entirely logical. Alex levels those accusations as though the happiest moments Astra has shared with her haven’t been debating new (to Earth) scientific theories, or arguing out battle tactics with lab equipment. Alex Danvers is rational and irrational in equal measure, and that might not have been the reason Astra changed sides in a war, but it’s certainly why the knot in her stomach seems to grow with every minute they spend together.

“This is a pretty good first date,” Alex says quietly, adjusting her grip on Astra’s shoulders. “I know you’re trying not to call it that, and I can’t exactly ask Kara what the deal is with your… rituals, or whatever. But I know a date when it happens to me, and taking someone out amongst the stars definitely counts.”

“Then I shall try extra hard not to drop you,” Astra answers after a moment. She’s rewarded with the briefest press of Alex’s lips against her own, cold noses brushing against each other in the process. “You’re cold. Your weak human metabolism can’t sustain these temperatures.” They’re already falling gently back to the ground despite Alex’s protests.

“With charm like that,” Alex finishes her tirade. “It’s a wonder I’m the only human who wants to date you.”

“You do?” Astra asks as her feet touch the ground again at last. 

Alex kisses her again, this time with her fingers caressing Astra’s face. It’s romance, Astra realizes a moment too late. It’s that creeping ache she’s felt for so long finally easing. Someone who wants her for more than her status, her army, or her familial connections. Someone who wants her, and kisses in a way to make that very clear. 

“I do,” Alex confirms when the kiss (reluctantly) ends. “Welcome to our first date, General.”

Astra has a hundred questions, and some biting comments besides. She swallows them all at once, and kisses Alex just as soundly in return. This is one human custom she might just enjoy getting used to.


	6. THINGS YOU SAID THROUGH YOUR TEETH

“She said she would be gone all weekend,” Astra says through her rictus grin, bending to pick up her military-issue jumpsuit and hold it in front of her naked body as a last-ditch attempt at modesty.

“I can hear you!” Kara wails, back turned and rubbing furiously at her eyes. Alex is a little worried Kara’s going to try and melt her own face with laser vision just to erase what she walked in on. 

“Kara, I can explain-”

“Don’t explain,” Kara throws a hand up in warning. “I don’t want to know what you were doing with the whipped cream that is for my coffee. I don’t want to know why my aunt’s legs were over your shoulders. And I really, really don’t want to know what you have strapped around your leg. You’d better lie to me and tell me it’s a DEO-issued holster.”

“Sure?” Alex holds her couch cushion in front of her with one hand, and frantically unfastens the thigh harness. The dull thud as the dildo hits the floor is the cherry on top of mortification. “You know, if you want to fly off somewhere and come back in like five minutes…”

“Fine,” Kara huffs, moving towards the window without once looking round. “Aunt Astra, we’re going to have a talk when I get back about roommate policy.”

“Fine,” Astra says, still through gritted teeth. A nervous smile is apparently her only response to Kara’s upset. Alex collapses on the sofa in relief when Kara disappears.

“So,” Astra ponders a moment later, face relaxing at last. “You think we can finish this round in five minutes?”

“Better make it four,” Alex hears her words dissolve into a moan as Astra captures a nipple between her teeth. “We’d better leave time to pull on some clothes.”


	7. THINGS YOU SAID AT THE KITCHEN TABLE

“How do I know you haven’t poisoned me?” Alex pokes at the strange assortment of vegetables and sauce with her fork, trying to picture the common poisons section of her field manual.

“Because I’ve been here three days and not yet smothered you in your sleep,” Astra replies, apparently not offended by the suggestion. In fact the glint in her eyes suggests that when she poisons someone, they damn well know about it. 

When Alex continues to push the food around her plate, Astra sighs and spears something green at random, popping it in her mouth. 

“See?” She demands. “Do you need me to taste your juice, too?”

Alex is really glad she wasn’t drinking the apple juice, because Astra’s occasionally too-literal take on language is going to be the death of her at this rate. 

“Fine,” she snaps, taking a big bite of something… okay shit, that’s delicious. Like fancy restaurant delicious. No way was this made with the contents of Alex’s cupboards, which are mostly empty save for pasta and half-empty bottles of hot sauce. “How did you do this?”

“I bought things from your farmers,” Astra says, as though it’s nothing. “An army marches on its stomach, and General or not someone had to keep us alive. My father taught me, when I was young.”

Just like Kara, the prospect of a hot cooked meal and the intimacy of the dinner table spurs Astra to reveal a little more about herself. “Kara never knew her grandfather, but he was a great man. I think I miss him most of all.”

Not Alura, then. Alex files that away for future reference.

“I don’t think I mind having a roommate if the cooking is this good,” she admits, getting to work on clearing her plate. Astra frowns at Alex talking with her mouth half-full, but the compliment coaxes that frown into a rare and genuine smile.

“I did some research,” Astra continues the conversation easily. “And it appears that on Earth most humans don’t have sex with their roommates. Or if they do, the terminology changes.”

“Right…” Alex holds her breath. She’s noticed, of course she has. Astra watches Alex like she’s been placed on this planet purely for Astra’s entertainment, or like tonight Alex is intended to be dessert. “And that affects us because…”

“Being obtuse does not suit you,” Astra warns, and too fast again she’s standing behind Alex, bending to whisper in her ear. “Don’t you want to find another enjoyable activity to keep me occupied?”

“Well, if it saves the planet,” Alex is scrambling to her feet a second later. She turns into Astra’s waiting arms, the kiss as precise and enticing as the food had been. Alex knows she’ll never taste zucchini again without thinking of this moment. It’s indelible from the first instant, like the day Superman lands in your garden, or the first time you shoot someone in the head.

There’s nothing in her field manual about sleeping with former prisoners turned informants, but for once in her life, Alex thinks she might do just fine without book smarts. From the pressure of Astra grabbing her ass, it would seem she’s just as confident.


	8. THINGS YOU SAID WHEN YOU MET MY PARENTS

It actually starts really, really well.

Alex has been priming her mother for months about how her girlfriend is - yes - an alien, but definitely the familiar and not-entirely scary kind. The Kara kind. The hey, she’s related to Kara but it’s not that weird, mom. Really, if you think about it… 

So when Astra starts out with compliments about the house, and intelligent questions about Eliza’s research, Alex almost breathes her first sigh of relief. Maybe coming back to Minnesota wasn’t a completely disastrous idea after all.

“So,” Astra says, sipping from her tea cup like she does it every day with Wills and Kate. “Is this where you brought Kara after you stole her?”

“Stole her?” Eliza repeats in disbelief. “Her cousin brought her to us. For safekeeping. We took her in and treated her like our own daughter.”

“Some would say better than that,” Alex jokes, but it falls flatter than a pancake with all the sudden tension in the room.

“She should have been with her cousin,” Astra speaks with the authority of someone airing a long-withheld grievance. “I couldn’t find her all those years because the plan was interrupted.” She doesn’t talk about her years on Earth before coming out of hiding. Alex doesn’t like to think about why. “But I suppose you did the best you could. For humans.”

Alex can’t see another way out of this. She’s going to have to play the dead dad card.

“Astra has been helping me finish Dad’s last project,” she informs her mother. “He’d be so thrilled to see some of these missing answers.” She turns to Astra. “Kara didn’t remember everything, you’ve really been invaluable on that. Did I thank you for that?”

“I assumed that’s what the increased frequency of sexual contact was about,” Astra answers, but the twinkle in her eye has her so completely busted. She leans on that alien expectation and has a hell of a lot of fun in the process. Lately all at Alex’s expense.

“Well I hope you’re being careful,” Eliza chimes in. “Because the papers your dad left here suggest female Kryptonians can conceive with any gender of partner. Or any species of alien.”

“What?” Astra and Alex snap in unison. “Did you know about this?” Alex demands, but Astra looks genuinely terrified.

“Oh relax,” Eliza erupts into laughter. “You are so heartbreakingly easy sometimes, Alexandra.”

“Mom!” Alex whines.

“Welcome to the family, Astra,” Eliza continues, getting up and pulling her into an awkward half-hug. We only mock the people we want to stick around.”

“Thank you,” Astra says, and when Eliza releases her, Astra actually looks faintly impressed. 

“So,” Eliza continues, sitting back down and pouring more tea. “Now you two have admitted you’re involved, shall we have a friendly wager on exactly when Kara is going to fess up?”

“Fess up about what?” Alex snorts. “The only guys she’s seeing regularly are Ben and Jerry.”

“No,” Astra corrects. “She is… oh, what’s that expression. Banging her boss?”

Alex spits the camomile all over the coffee table, prompting an irritated huff from her mother.

“She’s what?”

“This family turned into an episode of the L Word when I wasn’t looking,” Eliza grumbles, fetching a cloth from the kitchen. “Maybe I should start reconsidering. Is there a Tinder for older women?”

Alex smacks herself on the side of the head a few times, but unfortunately it’s not enough to knock her out. She’s beginning to rue the day she ever agreed to a stupid weekend at home.


	9. things you said I wouldn’t understand

“Just drop it!” Alex yells. “God, you have no concept of what we’re even talking about here.”

“Don’t I?” Astra fires back, and fuck, there is danger in that tone. Alex raises one finger to cut her off, to tell her that this is one rant Alex is entitled to, but Astra has yet to back down from a single fight. “You think you’re the only one in the galaxy to have a difficult mother?”

“This is a very specific situation,” Alex maintains, arms crossed and legs apart in what is supposed to be her most imposing stance. Astra doesn’t even flinch, but advances on her anyway in the small confines of the rarely-used kitchen. 

“What kind of woman do you suppose raised a judge and a terrorist, Alex? How do you think we turned out the way we did? We should have been so alike, but my mother was so ashamed of the oddity of twins. When Alura showed the most promise, she became the one true daughter of Ze. I know more than you think about being an afterthought.”

“I just want…”

“Say it,” Astra coaxes. “Admit what’s missing and it hurts less. Or less obviously.”

“I just want my mom to love me,” Alex whispers. “It was one thing when I thought she was just a bit cold, when I thought she couldn’t love any kid quite right. But then Kara came, and…” 

Alex lets the tears finally come. Astra lays a steadying hand on her shoulder. Any more than that would be beyond the limits they’ve set for this strange… relationship between them. They exist in shadows, working in close proximity at the DEO, spending time with Kara as two separate people who love her, but the frantic kisses and the hushed declarations against naked skin only ever happen when the world is firmly shut out. To anyone on the outside, it would seem like little has changed since the end of the Myriad project.

“Your mother loves you, Alex,” Astra says with all the authority of someone who’s met her once. “I suspect you want her to like you. You want her to find you easy, like she finds Kara.”

“Maybe,” Alex admits. “But then she calls and says she’s coming to visit, and am I really still alone and working in this job that could kill me and… how many more ways can I find to disappoint her?”

“You could tell her you’re sleeping with an alien terrorist?”

“Shut up,” Alex snorts, but this time Astra comforts with more than a squeeze of her hand. She draws Alex close and oh god, those arms around her feel like protection, like the safe space Alex has been so adamant about never needing. 

“For what it’s worth,” Astra murmurs against her hair. “I like you. And without weapons being waved, I think this might become easy, you and I.”

“I don’t think easy exists for people like us,” Alex grumbles, resting her head on Astra’s shoulder and wondering why she fought this kind of comfort for so long. “I do like you, too.”

“Then we understand that much, at least.”


	10. THINGS YOU SAID WITH MY LIPS ON YOUR NECK

“He’ll kill you,” Astra whispers, as though anyone can overhear in a concrete and steel bunker fifty feet below the ground. “There’s no greater dishonor than to take another man’s wife.”

“He’s trying to take my planet,” Alex growls against the thundering pulse at the base of Astra’s throat. She bites down, emphasizing her point. “And you’re nobody’s trophy to steal, General.”

“I won’t lose you.” Astra grips Alex’s shoulder, stronger than her even with the modified kryptonite that can diminish Kryptonian powers without illness or agony as a side effect. “Alexandra, look at me.”

“This is no time to get romantic,” Alex deflects, letting her hair fall over her face as she looks down at her scuffed boots instead. “In a few hours you won’t have a say in what happens to me.”

“I am asking you not to go,” Astra pleads. “Have I ever asked you for anything, in all these months?”

“No.”

“Then assume it’s important now,” Astra cups her cheek and damn her weakness, but Alex leans into the touch. “Alex, they already took J’onn. If Earth loses you, I fear this time they will fall.”

“Kara’s waiting for me,” Alex argues. “We have a plan.”

“Then take this cuff and let me fight,” Astra sighs, but Alex kisses her neck again, determined to say goodbye. “I’ll be at your side for the mission,” Astra insists.

“Fine,” Alex relents, unbuttoning the black cargo pants Astra has accepted as her new uniform, a good soldier even on a new side. “But let’s have tonight, okay?”

“I love you,” Astra murmurs, barely audible as Alex captures her lips in the next kiss. Alex doesn’t say the words, but she hopes Astra feels them anyway.


	11. Chapter 11

“Can I show you where you’re going wrong?” It’s the first time Astra actually asks her for anything, right at the end of their first sparring session. 

The DEO doctor expressed concern for Astra’s mental and physical condition after being imprisoned so long, and suggested some supervised exercise and regular company. Alex, for Kara’s sake, offered some Kryptonite-regulated fighting as the most obvious workout for the General. The smack talk after the first few minutes has been more fun than Alex anticipated. She’s pinned beneath Astra, one hand free to lash out at her again, but she holds her swing and nods at Astra’s offer.

“You lead with the same leg,” Astra explains, getting to her feet in one fluid movement, then pulling Alex up to join her. Even with the green glow to the room, she makes Alex feel weightless. “It shows your intent too early.”

“I do?” Alex takes her stance and realizes Astra has a point. She adjusts, but apparently not enough. Astra places her hands on Alex’s hips and tilts her just a little more. Alex blushes, because when was the last time someone grabbed her like that, so unapologetically. “Again,” she barks, to cover her inappropriate thoughts.

***

They’re six sessions in when Astra asks for something else. Alex is straddling her hips - for maximum restraint of the combatant and denying her leverage, of course - when Astra stops struggling, suddenly thoughtful.

“Can I have some fresh air?” Astra always frames the question so politely. “I’d wear the restraints or anything else you require.” Damn, did that sound suggestive, or is Alex losing her mind. “I just miss the sensation of air against my face. This cell reminds me of the last months on Krypton, when the air grew too toxic to be outside.”

“I… don’t know,” Alex admits, but she’s already running thirteen different strategies in her head for convincing Hank. She, of course, will have to escort. Maybe Kara can be backup, and it’ll give them a chance to talk. Apparently bringing someone back from the dead isn’t enough to offset ‘killing’ them in the first place, and things are strained in ways Alex doesn’t know how to fix. Perhaps this is the first step. “But I can find out,” she answers, and Astra nods in acknowledgement. 

***

“Can I…” Astra starts to ask as they approach the hidden entrance to the DEO. She thinks better of it, shaking her head. Kara has flown off smiling, and there’s a lightness to Astra that Alex has never seen before. She doesn’t think it’s just the sunlight at work. “Thank you,” she finishes instead.

“I could only get an hour,” Alex explains, pulling the camouflage away from the door. “But it went well. We’ll do it again.”

“I have come to a decision,” Astra announces, both of them shrouded in the shadow of the access tunnel after Alex pulls the door closed behind them. “I’d like to take the deal your Major offered. I offer my full cooperation.”

“You mean that?” Alex reaches for the weapon at her side for some reason, perhaps the ghosts of double-crossing past tugging at her reflexes. “I’ll pass that along, General.”

“I believe I just surrendered that rank.”

“Astra,” Alex amends. “Let’s take the long way back to the cell, okay?”

***

“So this is your apartment, basically,” Alex finishes the tour of the smaller studio opposite Kara’s apartment. It had taken some engineering to get rid of the current tenants, but the DEO had been able to fake up some convincing condemnation notices. “You have to check in with the watch we gave you, but there’s the chip as well. Some of the agents are still gonna give you shit, but you’ve proven yourself. Don’t forget that, okay?”

“A pep talk.” Astra looks faintly amused as she folds her arms over the white shirt that’s part of the shopping trip Kara dragged her on. Alex had bowed out at the first mention of changing rooms, not entirely trusting herself. Astra looks damn good in jeans. “Do you do this for all your former prisoners?”

“The ones we don’t jettison into space?” Alex reminds her. “No, I guess I don’t.”

Astra steps closer, ignoring the IKEA furniture and the kitschy additions Kara made last night to turn it into something homely. No, Astra only has eyes for Alex, and she’s wilting under the force of her gaze. 

“Can I kiss you?” She asks, the first real question in a while. She reaches out to tuck a strand of dark hair behind Alex’s ear. “I’ve been waiting to be free, to ask you. It’s been the longest wait of my life.”

Alex nods. Words are beyond her reach. She leans into Astra as though she’s just been waiting for permission, and the first kiss is unexpectedly tender. Astra smiles as they part, and it’s not the tight-lipped smirk of approval that Alex is used to. It’s dazzling, in truth. She’s known Astra was striking since she first laid eyes on her, but right now all Alex can think is beautiful like a marquee running through her brain.

“Don’t wait so long for the second one,” Alex warns her. She’s relieved when Astra doesn’t.


	12. Chapter 12

“I think… I’m…” 

“Oh God,” Kara interrupts. “You can’t even say it, can you?”

“This isn’t funny, Kara,” Alex groans. “I can’t believe this is happening to me.”

“You can’t?” Kara scoffs. “Alex, you’re the best person I know. You have a heart the size of California. You’re brave, you’re funny, you have perfect aim. Why wouldn’t Astra love you? So it only makes sense that you’d love her back. You can say it, you know.”

“I can’t,” Alex pleads. “I’m supposed to just walk up to her and say ‘I think I’m in love with you’?” She slaps her hand over her mouth. “Oh no.”

“Do you think you don’t deserve this?” Kara asks quietly. “There’s only one problem allowed to have a problem with you two being together, and that’s me. I’m giving you my blessing. I mean, no details because I’m not that cool with it, but otherwise you’re golden.”

“I spent so long assuming it just wouldn’t happen,” Alex admits. “Chasing the wrong people nearly cost me my future before Hank, before the DEO. Now I’ve got everything locked down, I’ve got you safe, and I guess I just didn’t factor in what would happen after that. When there was time for…”

“Falling in love with an alien,” Kara supplies helpfully, nudging the pizza box back to Alex. “You should have another slice. For courage.”

“I don’t get courage from pepperoni, you weirdo,” Alex reminds her. “That’s you.”

There’s a whoosh, and then Astra tumbles effortlessly through the windows of Kara’s apartment. 

“I think that’s my cue,” Kara says, getting up from the couch. She embraces Astra readily, mutters something in Kryptonese far more advanced than she ever taught Alex. “Use your words, Alex,” she tosses over her shoulder, before rushing off into the night. 

“My little one suggests you have something to tell me,” Astra announces, taking Kara’s spot on the couch without waiting for an invitation. She’s dressed more casually these days, the dark jeans and leather jacket a nice upgrade from the jumpsuit. The white t-shirt she’s wearing is Alex’s, and when she leans in for a now customary kiss, Alex can smell their complementary perfumes on the neckline of it. They go together, in so many ways.

“Oh, no big deal,” Alex insists, handing over the rest of the pizza off Astra’s hungry glance. Alex takes a deep breath, enough to make her ribs feel like they could crack, and makes her decision. “She thought I should tell you I’m totally in love with you.”

Astra chews her pizza, contemplative. “Yes,” she answers eventually. “You are.”

“That’s a little smug, Astra,” Alex points out. “Any thoughts on your side of that equation?”

“We’re not an equation, Alex,” Astra scolds. “We’re a solution.”

“Does that mean…?”

“I love you,” Astra admits. “Though I fear in ways that will scare you. In ways you will not want me to love you.”

“Don’t burn down any planets for me, and I’ll cope,” Alex says, laughing around the words. Astra kisses the laugh from her lips, focused and intense as always. Her hands slip beneath Alex’s black tee, the touch insistent and oh, so very welcome. “I love you,” she murmurs between kisses, mostly because she can.


End file.
